Judges 6:11-24

(Judges 6:11-24) – “Have I not sent YOU?”

Gideon is visited by the angel of the Lord, who the text makes clear is God Himself. Many theologians believe these Old Testament appearances of the angel of the Lord are indeed the pre-incarnate Christ.

Gideon is greeted with the declaration that God is with him, and Gideon has some questions…maybe some of these resonate with you.

“If God is with me, why is my life in turmoil?”

“If God is with me, why is nothing going right?”

“If God is with me, where are all His supposed blessings?”

Many people judge God’s goodness in their life based on their circumstances, and because things weren’t going well for Israel, Gideon questioned God’s presence in his life.

His logic seems reasonable…If God is the all-knowing, all-powerful Creator of the universe, and He’s on OUR side, why are a bunch of sheep herders wrecking our lives so easily?

Remember what we said yesterday…(seriously, go back and read it again)

We must pay attention, the response of God here is instructive for us. Look at verses 14-16.

I’m paraphrasing…”Yes Gideon, things are really bad right now, but I’m sending YOU to do something about it. Take what I’ve given you and go rescue Israel from these people.”

God has put us here for a reason.

Why is there so much evil in the world? Why are all these bad things happening? Where is God? Why isn’t He doing something about it?

He did do something…He made YOU! (I think Matthew West wrote a song about this…)

Instead of sitting back and questioning God, God wanted Gideon to stand up and ask what he could do WITH God’s help.

With God’s help, anything is possible.

Just like Gideon, we often spend too much time pointing out problems and not enough time being willing to be a part of the solution.